Rules, Rubrics, & Racism: A Narrative Analysis of Black Youth Organizers’ School Experiences

• In Event: Examining Antiracist Educational Practices Through a Developmental Lens

Abstract

Studies examining the schooling experiences of racially minoritized youth reveal that they are confronted with recurring racial discrimination (Leath et al., 2019). Research also evidences the adverse consequences of racism and race-based traumatic stress, including its negative impacts on students-teacher relationships, academic performance, and overall psychosocial wellbeing (see Anderson et al., 2019; Merolla & Jackson, 2019). As such, those aiming to support the wellbeing of Black school-aged youth must contend their experiences of racism and race-based traumatic stress in schools.
The purpose of this presentation is to share recounts of student organizers’ experiences of racism in schools. In doing so, I offer insights about how educators, youth workers, and supportive adults can more effectively align with Black student organizers to address their experiences of racism and race-based traumatic stress in schools. This presentation leverages data from the Making Justice Project (MJP), a qualitative study examining Black student organizers’ lives, activist identity formation, political perspectives, and sociopolitical visions. In this study, I sought to understand: What are these Black adolescent organizers’ experiences of racism in schools, and what insights do their narratives offer about how supportive adults more effectively act in solidarity? Black adolescent organizers are uniquely positioned to offer perspectives of racism in schools and the potential approaches to redressing such with critical consideration of the sociopolitical factors.
MJP is a rigorously designed developmental science study, situated at the nexus of narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000), oral history (Yow, 2015), and Black storytelling (Toliver, 2021). The study involved multimethod, multiphase in-depth narrative interviews with Black adolescents (n=10, ages 12-18) who resided in the United States and had a history of political activism. The interview sequentially integrated Lifestory Interviewing, Artifact Elicitation, and Imagework methods to capture the youth’s lives across multiple ecological contexts. The semi-structured interview protocol invited discussion related to youth’s schooling experiences and social relationships, including those with other students, teachers, coaches, and connected community members. A categorical-content approach to narrative thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. This study was grounded in Sociopolitical Development Theory (Watts & Guessous, 2006) with concepts integrated from the Portrait of the Thriving Youth (Youth-Nex, 2023). These theories and analytic method allowed us to highlight the domains of thriving that are adversely impacted by racism while acknowledging how the experiences are situated within a broader sociopolitical development process.
The findings reflect how Black youth organizers experience and respond to racism in schools. Identified themes provide significant insights about: (1) how racism emerges in the narratives Black adolescent organizers; (2) the resources and strategies Black adolescent organizers use to address or cope with racism in schools; and (3) potential approaches for adults to redress the harms of racism. These findings have implications for how educators, youth workers, and supportive adults support Black youth in schools, advocate for anti-racist programs and policies, and support Black adolescent organizers.

Author

• Edward D. Scott, University of Houston